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Introduction to Compact Models
1.1 Compact Models for Circuit Simulation
Compact models of a circuit element are simple mathematical descriptions
of the behavior of that circuit element, which are used for computer-aided
design (CAD) and analysis of integrated circuits (ICs). Compact models
describe the device characteristics of a manufacturing technology by a set
of physics-based analytical expressions with technology-dependent device
model parameters that are solved by a circuit simulator for circuit analysis
during IC design. Compact modeling refers to the art of generating compact
models of an IC process technology by extracting elemental model parameters for accurate prediction of the behavior of the circuit elements of that
technology in circuit simulation. In reality, the complete compact models
include the modeling of each circuit element along with its parasitic components that run robustly for realistic assessment of the representative IC
technology in circuit CAD [1,2].
Compact models of the circuit elements of an IC manufacturing technology have been the major part of electronic design automation (EDA) tools for
circuit CAD since the invention of ICs in the year 1958 [3] and are playing an
increasingly important role in the nanometer-scale system-on-chip design
era. Today, compact models are the most important part of the process
design kit [4,5], which is the interface between circuit designers and device
technology. As the mainstream complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor
(CMOS) technology is scaled down to the nanometer regime, a truly physical
and predictive compact model for circuit CAD that covers geometry, bias,
temperature, DC, AC, radio frequency (RF), and noise characteristics has
become a major challenge for model developers and circuit designers [1].
A good compact model has to accurately capture all real-device effects and
simultaneously produce them in a form suitable for maintaining high computational efficiency.
In the microelectronics industry, compact modeling includes (1) compact
device models of the active devices such as bipolar junction transistors (BJTs)
and metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) along
1
Introduction to Compact Models
1.1 Compact Models for Circuit Simulation
Compact models of a circuit element are simple mathematical descriptions
of the behavior of that circuit element, which are used for computer-aided
design (CAD) and analysis of integrated circuits (ICs). Compact models
describe the device characteristics of a manufacturing technology by a set
of physics-based analytical expressions with technology-dependent device
model parameters that are solved by a circuit simulator for circuit analysis
during IC design. Compact modeling refers to the art of generating compact
models of an IC process technology by extracting elemental model parameters for accurate prediction of the behavior of the circuit elements of that
technology in circuit simulation. In reality, the complete compact models
include the modeling of each circuit element along with its parasitic components that run robustly for realistic assessment of the representative IC
technology in circuit CAD [1,2].
Compact models of the circuit elements of an IC manufacturing technology have been the major part of electronic design automation (EDA) tools for
circuit CAD since the invention of ICs in the year 1958 [3] and are playing an
increasingly important role in the nanometer-scale system-on-chip design
era. Today, compact models are the most important part of the process
design kit [4,5], which is the interface between circuit designers and device
technology. As the mainstream complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor
(CMOS) technology is scaled down to the nanometer regime, a truly physical
and predictive compact model for circuit CAD that covers geometry, bias,
temperature, DC, AC, radio frequency (RF), and noise characteristics has
become a major challenge for model developers and circuit designers [1].
A good compact model has to accurately capture all real-device effects and
simultaneously produce them in a form suitable for maintaining high computational efficiency.
In the microelectronics industry, compact modeling includes (1) compact
device models of the active devices such as bipolar junction transistors (BJTs)
and metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) along